Supply units of this type are also known in the art as “step conveyors” and are used to convey mechanical components, which are placed in a holder, or a container, of the supply unit as a randomly oriented or unsorted quantity of components. A conveyor moves up and down relative to the holder, and extracts individual components from the holder and delivers same to a transport element adjacent to the upper end, of the holder. The component parts can then be supplied, via a transport element to a processing unit for further utilization.
The conveyor is moved with a conveying, or carrying, surface along an inner surface of the holder, so that the component parts carried along with the conveyor are supported, so that they slide on both the conveying and carrying surface and on the inner surface of the holder. The design of the conveyor insures that only component parts which are correctly oriented, and/or positioned, are transferred by the conveyor element to the area of the transport element, and are discharged onto the transport element.
In supply units known in the art, the transport element for removing the component parts from the supply unit is generally a vibration conveyor designed as a linear conveyor. The slow transport speed of such vibration conveyors is a marked disadvantage, for relatively long cycle times are needed to transport the component parts discharged by the conveyor to a transport element or to a transfer area. The long cycle time limits the capacity of a supply unit (the number of component parts transported away with the transport element per unit of time).